Driving ban and fine for teenager who drove after taking cannabis

Castletown man also admitted driving a vehicle with 16 defects

A teenager from Castletown who drove after taking cannabis has been banned from driving for two years.

Eighteen-year-old Oliver Quayle of Victoria Road appeared at Douglas Courthouse to be sentenced on three motoring offences.

The court heard police had spotted a red Alfa Romeo parked at the Clypse reservoir on 26 November last year.

As the patrol car approached the vehicle, Quayle started to pull away before stopping when ordered to do so by officers.

When Quayle opened the car door, officers smelt cannabis and asked him to take a drug wipe test, which returned a positive reading.

A later blood test revealed a reading of 4.8 micrograms of THC - the legal limit is 2.

A search of the vehicle found herbal cannabis with a street value of around £44 in the glovebox, which Quayle admitted was partly his.

The student had previously admitted a separate offence of driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

He was stopped driving a Mazda MX5 on 22 May near Peel, when officers saw the vehicle was in a poor condition with the battery exposed and seat pads loose.

The car was assessed by the public service vehicle examiner, who found 16 defects.

His advocate told the court Quayle wouldn't have driven the vehicle if he had realised the extend of the defects, but High Bailiff James Brooks rejected this, citing a reference from a garage Quayle works at part time - he said "I do not accept that you couldn't have known, you must have been aware of [the defects]."

For the vehicle defect offence, Mr Brooks handed Quayle a £500 fine, three penalty points on his licence and ordered him to pay £50 in prosecution costs.

Having pleaded guilty to the drug driving offence, the 18-year-old will have to pay a £1,250 fine, £1,232 in prosecution costs and has been banned from driving for two years, after which he'll have to pass an extended driving test before regaining his licence, plus a further £200 for possession of cannabis.